In a bid to present a viable resolution to the main challenges related to last-mile logistics in Africa, And Africa LLC has launched a pilot of its ECD (Simple Gather & Drop) last-mile supply service in South Africa. ECD makes use of good locker know-how that enables customers to ship, obtain and retailer parcels conveniently any time of the day or week.
The primary set of ECD lockers was put in at two main purchasing centres positioned in Sandton, Johannesburg – particularly, Dainfern Sq. and Pineslopes Boulevard. Extra ECD lockers shall be put in in main residential estates, house complexes and petrol stations in Johannesburg and Pretoria within the coming months.
To supply the perfect supply service to all its prospects and enhance accessibility to end-to-end supply, ECD is now out there nationwide. Clients can ship parcels from Gauteng to another province in South Africa
ECD gives:
1. Locker-to-Door
Clients select their nearest ECD locker, drop off their parcel, and have it delivered to any handle within the nation. Clients are provided extra flexibility to decide on when to do their deliveries, be it after work, earlier than a morning exercise, or whereas doing their grocery purchasing.
2. Locker-to-Locker
The service provides each sender and receiver the choice of dropping off and amassing the parcel from their closest ECD locker, thus decreasing ready time for courier providers to achieve the receiver’s handle.
3. On-line Buy Supply
This feature supplies internet buyers with versatile supply of their purchases from ECD’s retail companions since they may assign the closest ECD locker to the shopper and cut back re-delivery prices because of the 48-hour pick-up window for his or her purchases.
4. Storage Locker
This facility was tailor-made for patrons who need to retailer parcels or baggage for a sure interval (as much as 24 hours). The service is useful for day travellers who need to discover town hands-free, or buyers who don’t need to wrestle with their many purchases for the entire journey – or, for that matter, any one who prefers to maintain their objects saved safely.
Be aware: The Locker-to-Door, Locker-to-Locker and Storage Locker providers are all made out there by the ECD Net app and cellular app (iOS and Android suitable). The On-line Buy Supply service is obtainable immediately by taking part e-commerce web sites as a supply choice.
Challenges of last-mile supply in Africa
One of many greatest challenges dealing with last-mile supply in Africa, and the world, is the re-delivery subject that ends in extra prices. Further points got here up within the Africa context as a result of visitors congestion, unclear addresses (extra particularly in rural areas), poor or undeveloped street infrastructure, and scattered supply locations, which contribute to a courier’s incapability to supply well timed supply and resulting in lengthy ready occasions for patrons.
ECD solves the issue because it’s an revolutionary and viable resolution for each courier firms and prospects. Couriers can keep away from re-deliveries by dropping off parcels in ECD lockers, whereas prospects are given 48 hours to gather their parcel as soon as it’s delivered.
The last-mile supply sector can also be anticipated to adapt to unexpected conditions, corresponding to Covid-19, which enforced the idea of social distancing. ECD is the popular supply choice because of its capacity to facilitate the supply of parcels with out the necessity for human contact.
Future prospects for Africa’s logistics market
According to Statistica, the market dimension of the logistics business throughout the African continent was US$355-billion in 2018 and the last-mile market witnessed development estimated at $27.2-billion in 2019, which could be primarily attributed to speedy digitalisation noticed in recent times. Fast digitalisation has in flip pushed the rise in the usage of e-commerce on the continent, with the entire variety of internet buyers rising at an annual fee of 18%. E-commerce income totalled $18.8-billion in 2020 and is predicted to achieve $35.4-billion in 2024.
This all means that ECD has been launched on the proper time and that Africa is able to embrace and welcome know-how.
CEO’s message
Now we have been selling cooperation between Africa and Japan by know-how switch and inspiring funding. We imagine that utilising the technological capabilities of Japan can create a differentiating think about enterprise improvement in Africa. In Africa, the place e-commerce development faces many challenges by way of last-mile logistics, we arrange ECD to supply a greater last-mile supply service.
ECD can minimise the Covid-19 danger by mitigating human intervention when receiving/sending your parcel. And it creates many “gig work” alternatives by our on-demand logistics and locker franchise fashions. Moreover, ECD contributes to decreasing visitors congestion and greenhouse fuel emissions by eliminating re-delivery. Lastly, ECD frees you from ready for parcels at dwelling and supplies probably the most cheap supply service.
I’m subsequently assured that ECD shall be one of many demanded options in Africa. We are going to do our greatest to contribute to the reform of last-mile logistics in Africa. — Yo Murofushi, CEO, And Africa LLC
